CHAPTER 507: IF STORY - THE INITIAL DRAFT (15)

0% - Krrkk...! Crash...!

Hearing the ominous roar from outside, Serena hurried down the stairs.

“No... No, this can’t be...”

- Rumble...!

“There’s no way this is real.”

Her voice, cracking with anxiety, spilled from her lips, her face drained of all color.

“...This is another trick, isn’t it, Frey?”

And as a faint scoff crept into her voice—

“You’re trying to deceive me again, just like you always have.”

She had come to a halt without realizing it, forcing a trembling smile onto her lips.

“You made a deal with the Demon King in advance, didn’t you? Pretending to fight her while acting like you came here to save us?”

- Boom! Boom!

“You’re setting up a hopeful scenario... so you can lure us out of the palace, right?”

As she spoke, Serena’s expression slowly regained its composure.

“For once, you actually used your head. I should give you some credit for that.”

She stayed in place for a moment, catching her breath.

“But that’s as far as you go.”

Now mostly calm again, she glanced out the nearby window and muttered.

“No matter what trick you pulled to get the Hero’s Armament... you can’t fool my eyes.”

Just as her confidence was returning, her expression stiffened once more.

“I’m getting tired of watching you miserable worms struggle.”

- Rumble...!

“Begone!”

At that moment, as she looked outside, the Demon King’s overwhelming attacks rained down upon Frey’s forces.

“Ugh...”

“Khk...”

A few of the remaining soldiers collapsed, their bodies unable to endure the impact.

Even to someone like Serena—or to any ordinary bystander unfamiliar with combat—

It was painfully clear that Frey and his troops were putting their lives on the line against the Demon King.

“...It’s all an act.”

That undeniable truth made Serena’s once-recovering composure falter again.

“A-All of You... You were the traitors who followed Frey, weren’t you?”

It was Serena herself who had dragged the entire Starlight family into disgrace alongside Frey.

It was she who had isolated those incomprehensible fools who insisted on standing by his side.

“You raised a flag against the Imperial Family... You were the cancer that needed to be excised from the Empire...”

Because she had done all of that—she simply could not accept what was happening.

“...That’s what you were supposed to be.”

But—

“Then why...”

“YOUNG MASTER!!!”

No matter how much she tried to deny it—

No one could run from the truth forever.

“K-Kania?!”

Frey had raised his sword, eyes filled with resolve.

The Demon King’s next strike descended upon him.

- Crackle!!!

“N-No!!!”

A strike that no one could survive if hit directly—

And yet, at that moment, Kania threw herself in its path.

“...”

Serena, watching blankly, suddenly gasped.

Tearing her gaze from the window, she staggered back, her face deathly pale.

“No... No, no, no!!!”

“...Hrk.”

Then, as Frey’s scream of anguish echoed through the palace—

Serena lost her footing and tumbled down the stairs.

“Ugh... Ugh...”

Blood trickled from her forehead, her knees swollen red from the impact.

But her face showed no sign of pain.

“Aaaaaahhh!!!”

With Frey’s wretched cries ringing in her ears, she forced her stiffened legs to carry her further down the steps.

“H-Hopefully... Just this once... I-I’ll let myself be fooled... One last time, so...”

- Boom! Boom!

“...T-Tell me it’s a lie. Please.”

Terror was the only thing left in her expression.

.

.

.

.

.

“Kania!! Kania!!! Open your eyes!!”

“...Y-Young mas...”

After slashing fiercely at the Demon King to put distance between them, Frey clutched Kania’s blood-soaked body, his voice breaking in anguish.

“...I-It hurts.”

“Why did you do that, you idiot?!”

“You’re too loud, young master...”

“...Mmgh.”

Kania, with trembling hands, pressed against his lips to silence him.

“You’re asking why I did this?”

“Mmgh, mmgh...”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Still weakly covering his mouth, she gave him a faint smile.

“I’m... your loyal servant... forever...”

“You fool!!!”

As the strength left her arms, her hand slipped down, and Frey’s tears finally spilled over.

“You were supposed to survive this war!!”

“Cough, cough...”

“That attack was meant for me to take!!!”

Frey bowed his head and screamed as if he could force the truth to change.

“I warned you so many times! I read the diary over and over again!!”

“...”

“Even if you took that hit, my fate still wouldn’t change!!!”

“Young... master.”

At the sight of her master crumbling completely for the first time, Kania’s final expression—

“You’re truly clueless, even to the end.”

“What?”

“You said... I was supposed to survive this war?”

—was one of heartbreaking, yet blissful, happiness.

“Why would I want to live in a world without you?”

“...!”

At her words—spoken without her usual formal tone—Frey’s eyes widened.

“You were... everything to me.”

“...Kania.”

“You were the one who took in my dying sister and me. You gave me a reason to live.”

Frey’s cold hand gently touched her tear-streaked cheek.

“I loved you. Just as much as that spoiled little princess did.”

“...”

“If I can die by your side... that’s enough for me.”

As she spoke, Kania’s eyelids slowly began to close.

“...And even if I couldn’t change your fate.”

“K-Kania, no.”

“At the very least... I bought you time to say your final goodbyes. And that’s enough for me.”

“No, no—Kania!”

Desperately, Frey shook her fragile body.

“I won’t... I won’t let you go like this...”

“Then... I’ll see you again soon, young master...”

“Stop...”

“I’ll have a warm meal ready for you...”

As she mustered the last of her strength to stroke Frey’s hair one last time—

- Slump...

Her hand fell limply to the ground.

“...”

Her lifeless black eyes, which had been gazing at him until the very end, quietly shut.

An oppressive silence blanketed the battlefield—where now, Frey was the only one left standing.

“So, is your pitiful farewell over?”

A voice laced with mockery reached Frey, who sat frozen, cradling Kania’s cooling body.

“Now, get up.”

“...”

“It’s time to finish this.”

As Ruby taunted him, Frey slowly rose to his feet.

“Not that it matters. The battle is already decided.”

Everywhere he looked, the lifeless bodies of his fallen comrades littered the ground.

“Throw down your sword and surrender. I might even consider making you one of my servant—“

- Grit...

As his gaze fell upon Kania—who still wore a faint, peaceful smile—

- Crackle...!!

An overwhelming light exploded from Frey’s body.

“Oh?”

Ruby’s lips curled into an intrigued smirk as the radiance shot high into the sky.

“Are you making a final, desperate struggle?”

In her ruby-red eyes, she saw Frey—sword raised—charging toward her with reckless fury.

“Well, I don’t mind. I find this much more entertaining.”

As he reached her, Ruby simply lifted her hand.

“RAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

“Come.”

Their energies collided, sending shockwaves ripping through the battlefield.

- BOOOOOM!!!

The force shattered the palace’s protective barrier into pieces.

“Kyah!?”

Serena—who had been stumbling down the stairs in her frantic rush to escape—was hurled backward by the blast.

“Ugh...”

- Thud...!

She crashed to the ground, two massive pillars collapsing in front of her, blocking her path.

“F-Frey...”

Struggling desperately, she tried to push the rubble aside—only to freeze at the sight before her.

- Rumble...!!!

A blinding explosion of light engulfed the battlefield.

“Ah...”

As the tremendous force swept over her, just before she lost consciousness, Serena saw one last thing—

“Kuhk...!”

Clana lunged forward, plunging her sword into Ruby’s back.

“...At last.”

And Frey, finally smiling in satisfaction as blood poured from his mouth.

.

.

.

.

.

“Cough, cough...”

Serena let out a dry cough as she opened her eyes.

She slowly raised her heavy body and glanced around.

- Creak...

The pillar that had blocked her path was now shattered so badly that even the slightest push would clear the way.

“...”

Brushing aside the scattered debris with her hands, she began to move forward.

- Thud...!

But before she could take many steps, her legs gave out beneath her, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Haa... Ha...”

“...”

Lying there, barely conscious, was Frey—his sword still embedded in the lifeless Demon King’s heart—as he gasped for breath, his body fatally wounded beyond recovery.

Beside him, Clana lay unconscious.

“F-Frey. You... You...”

“...?”

His weary eyes flickered toward Serena, who had fallen to her knees before him.

“Explain... Tell me what happened...”

“Cough, cough...”

“This... This was all part of your scheme, wasn’t it?”

Her trembling hands gripped his shoulders, shaking him weakly.

“It is, right...? Say it is... Please...”

As Frey’s dull, unfocused gaze finally met her trembling moonlit eyes—

“...You’re hurt, Serena.”

His voice, filled with genuine regret, spilled out.

“What...”

His frozen fingers reached out and gently grasped her hair.

“You should’ve... just stayed inside...”

“You... You...”

“...Crybaby.”

And with those soft words—

“...You still remember that?”

Her voice cracked as she stared at him in disbelief, her lips quivering.

“Even now? All this time...?”

“Hehe...”

A faint, powerless smile crept onto Frey’s lips.

As the dark, crimson blood trickled from his mouth, it dripped onto the tattered pages of the diary fluttering beside him.